Development of a Tissue Freezing and Rewarming Device That Uses Compressed Air as a Medium

摘要

This report describes a tissue cooling/rewarming system (TCRS) which uses dried, supercooled, compresses air as a medium. It allows the user, in a manner close to that which occurs in a natural arctic environment, to freeze and rewarm animal tissue producing the first three degrees of frostbite. Temperature, wind speed and time of freeze can all be varied. The TCRS consist of an air compressor, air dryer, air jet cooler with controller, and a acrylic animal tissue freezing chamber. Temperatures are monitored by utilizing the Hewlett Packard 3054 A Data Acquisition System, which is driven by the Hewlet Packard 236 table top computer. The TCRS has been used to produce approximately 500 precisely controlled frostbite injuries to date. This TCRS should prove to be a useful means of developing a reproducible, realistic, animal frostbite model.